Courage Under Fire
by xx.just.a.contradiction.xx
Summary: KBxOW. Katie's courage is tested when Oliver is injured in the War. WARNING: some gory scenes


**Courage Under Fire.**

_'I am that warm voice in the cold wind that whispers  
And if you listen you'll hear me call across the sky  
As long as I still can reach out and touch you  
Then I will never die'  
**Remember - James Horner**_

Opening the hospital room door painstakingly, Katie stuck her head around the doorframe, spotted what she was looking for and crept in to silently sit beside the bed of injured and sleeping Oliver Wood. Setting her bag down beside the chair, she sighed as she took in the sight of his bruised and scratched face – signs of his part in the war that had only begun a week ago and had already claimed so many lives.

Reaching out, she tenderly pushed a stray lock of messy brown hair from his face, and smiled as he wrinkled his nose a little at her touch. His eyes inched open and he awoke to her smile, calming and loving as always.

'Katie?' he asked softly, blinking blearily as he took in his surroundings, 'What happened?'

A momentary flash of pain tore across her face and he withdrew slightly from her touch, but then it all faded away and her smile crept back.

'You had a bit of an accident, clumsy ex-captain of mine.' She lied through her teeth, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek.

'What kind of accident? I don't feel any pain.' He enquired, reaching up to touch his fingers to his head and brought them away to check if there was any blood.

'Oh, um, well -' Katie began, but the door was opened and in bustled a cheery looking healer with a broad smile.

'Ah, Mr. Wood, you're awake! Excellent!' he beamed, taking a chart from the foot of Oliver's bed and examining it with a flourish.

'How long was I out for?' Oliver asked the doctor.

'Oh, about a week.' He answered without hesitation, making Katie cringe and turn away.

'A _bit_ of an accident! What _exactly_ happened to me, Katie?' Oliver hissed through clenched teeth.

'You almost died a week ago.' Katie replied bluntly in a monotone, staring out the window.

'Almost died! How?' Oliver yelled, panicking at her behaviour.

'I'll erm, leave you to it.' the healer said quietly, nodding politely to the pair of them and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him carefully.

'Coward.' Katie spat, before turning to look at Oliver sadly.

'Katie, please tell me.' Oliver pleaded, his brown eyes beseeching her.

Nodding, tight-lipped, Katie clutched her arms around herself before opening her mouth to speak.

'We were at Bill Weasley's wedding, and um, there was an attack and all of you "Order of the Phoenix" lot had to fight the Death Eaters that turned up. And, I… I being the idiot that I am tried to help – got into a battle with Montague of all people – and began to lose… He hit me with a couple of minor jinxes – nothing serious, but then he tried to hit me with the Cruciatus curse and you jumped in the way…'

She paused, licking her lips before continuing, her voice beginning to quaver.

'And you were lying there on the ground,' she let out a sob, 'screaming and yelling – you were in so much pain… and I didn't know what to do; I froze… just stood there, watching you being tortured. You'd dropped your wand, so you couldn't do anything to stop him and I couldn't move… and-'

She stopped, tears running down her face – her green eyes glinting miserably as she turned away from him, ashamed… guilty…

'Katie…' Oliver said hoarsely.

'I'm sorry… Oliver, I am so sorry.' She sobbed, trying to wipe away the tears as her eyes created more.

'Katie, come here.' Oliver replied, beckoning her as she turned around, her eyes averted, 'Please?'

Walking back over to his bed, she stood beside him, looking at the ground wretchedly.

'Come on, sit beside me.' he said, moving over and patting the empty space beside him.

Crawling into the bed, she lay her head on his shoulder with an almighty sniff.

'I'm such a coward.' She said into shoulder with a hiccup.

'No you're not…' Oliver said consolingly, rubbing the small of her back with a large, weathered hand.

'You should hate me.' She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

'Well, I don't.' he replied, hugging her tighter to him.

'You could have died.' She said, her voice breaking, before she gave a howl and began to cry again.

'I'm still alive, aren't I?' he said with a little laugh, before he gave a large cough.

'Yeah…' she said, snuggling into his chest.

'It's going to be alright.' He said soothingly, running a hand through her hand and laying his head back on his pillow tiredly.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Startled awake to the shrill cry of the heart monitor, Katie fell off the bed in horror as Oliver began to gasp and cough loudly, blood spraying from his mouth.  
Screaming loudly, she pressed her hands to her mouth in terror as she watched him struggle for breath, his hands full of his own blood.

'Get… a… healer…' he rasped, his brown eyes full of panic.

Struggling to her feet, she burst out into the hallway, shouting for help, her jeans covered in Oliver's scarlet blood.

'HELP!' she screeched, stumbling slightly as nurses and healers tore past her into the room.

Pushing past the crowd of nurses, Katie ran to his bedside.  
'Ol? Oliver!' she yelled, her faces wet with new tears.

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

'I'm… going… to… be… alright…' he gasped with a small smile that she couldn't return.

'You're covered in blood.' She said weakly, clutching his hand as if her own life depended on it.

'I'm… used… to… it…' he said with a chuckle and then a horrible gargle.

'Miss, we're going to have to move him – you can come as far as the OR door.' said a nurse sternly.

'Oh, alright… okay…' Katie said, nodding, 'Do I have to let go of his hand?'

'Just until we get him out into the hallway.' The nurse replied with a knowing nod.

'O-okay.' She said, before leaning down to Oliver, 'Ol? Ol, I have to let go for a little bit, okay?'

'Y-….yep…' he coughed, his cheeky smile still present.

Wheeling the bed around, they pushed him through the door, but just as the y reached the hallway, he began to thrash and twitch horribly, reminding Katie of the Cruciatus symptoms.

'What's happening to him?' she asked nobody in particular.

'He was hit so hard by the curse, that they haven't been able to get rid of it entirely.' said one of the younger healers hurriedly, 'He's crashing!'

Oliver's eyes were screwed tightly and his body was rolling around on the bed.

'Miss! Miss! We need you to get on the bed and hold him down!' yelled the healer, startling Katie from her momentary reverie.

'Wh-what do you mean?' she asked fearfully.

'You need to climb up on the bed, dear, and hold his arms down for us – you're the smallest one here so you'll put less pressure on his lungs.' said the kind, older nurse, leading her to the bed and hoisting her up.

Carefully, she picked her way around Oliver's thrashing limbs and straddled his thighs, leaning forwards to pin his arms to the bed.  
'Like this?' she asked weakly.

'Perfect.' said the nurse before turning to the healer, 'What are we doing, sir?'

'Okay, we need to clear his airways and pinpoint the laceration of his lungs.' said the healer formally, lighting his wand and reaching down to open one of Oliver's eyes – but Oliver beat him to it.

His eyelids flashing open, Oliver gave a huge cough.

'Oliver? Oliver, can you hear me?' Katie asked, her tears dripping onto his face and mingling with his blood.

'…y-…yes…' he whispered hoarsely.

'Don't you dare die on me, you hear? Don't you _dare_!' she told him sternly and slightly hysterically, her tears dripping faster.

'I'll… try…' he replied.

'You better because if you don't, I'll – Oh God.'

His body stopped thrashing and he lay limp on the bed, his eyes still open and his breathing shallow, the blood running in one thin trickle from his mouth onto the soaking bed.

'I… love… you…' he whispered, his eyes strangely glassy.

'No… oh, no you don't! Oliver! Fight it, Ol!' she screamed, bashing his arms onto the bed, 'Don't you _dare_!'

With a slight turn of his lips, he flashed her one last smile, before his breathing slowed to a stop.

Choking, Katie let go of his arms and looked around at the healers and nurses, who were all standing around the bed with their heads bowed respectably.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' she shrieked at them, startling one nurse to tears, 'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FIXING HIM!'

'There's nothing we can do…' said the healer sadly.

'Oh My God, you're wizards – you can fix _anything_!' she yelled, before turning back to Oliver, who was lying silent and unmoving on the bloodied bed.

'Oliver?' she asked softly, leaning down and pressing an ear to his chest.

There was no heartbeat.

'Oliver?' she asked again weakly, before getting down off the bed and covering her face with her hands and running out of the hallway.

The healers and nurses exchanged sad looks before going different ways or walking forwards to clean Oliver's body up, the sounds of Katie's screaming echoing through the hospital.

Sitting in the bathroom stall, her screaming having subsided to a silent cry, Katie rocked herself back and forth as she re-lived the last few minutes in her mind.  
There was a quiet knock on the door and she looked up to see the kindly nurse from before. Turning away, Katie gave a sniff.

'Now, now, dearie… I haven't come to disturb you, I just came to give you this...' she said gently, holding out a folded piece of parchment, 'they found it in his jeans the other night when they brought him in from the front-line and I thought you'd better have it.'

Nodding sympathetically and flashing a quick smile, she squeezed her shoulder before walking away, the slight squeak of her rubber shoes on the polished floors fading away to silence.

Sniffing again, Katie wiped her swollen eyes on her sleeve before slowly opening the note, recognising his messy scrawl, it took all of her strength to keep from tearing it apart, but she controlled herself and read on.

_**Dear Katie,  
I know that you'll only be reading this if something has happened to me, so I feel bad even writing this, because I know that you're in a lot of pain right now, but you have to know something.**_

_**When Moody approached me about joining the Order, I was hesitant at first, because contrary to what you might think about me, I'm a bloody chicken and I hate fighting… But then I thought of how I'd feel if something happened to you and I couldn't do anything… and then of course, you went and nearly died on me with that necklace incident and so I felt so helpless then, that I knew I had to join, even if it was just to protect you. **_

_**I know you probably hate me for making you go through this, but it's worth it to me, if you can at least go away from reading this, knowing that I had a good reason for joining the Order.**_

_**Now, Kates, I know you, and I know that you're probably blaming yourself for all this, but don't… please don't…**_

_**I really don't know what else to write, because I was never one for words, really… I was always better at hugging you or tucking you into bed or kissing you… I never told you a lot about myself or just how much I need you…  
But, I am now…  
I love you.  
Don't ever forget that.  
I wouldn't be the guy that you know and love today, if I hadn't known you most of my twenty-one years of life…**_

_**Keep smiling Bell, it's the best thing you can do with that pretty face.  
Love always,  
Oliver.**_

With a wry smile, Katie wiped away the fresh tears that had been trailing down her face. Folding the note up carefully, she tucked it into her pocket and got to her feet. Walking over to the mirror, she took a long hard look at her swollen, bloodstained face before splashing it with the cool water from the tap.

Remembering his last piece of advice, she forced a smile onto her face and discovered he was right… she felt a little better.

She pulled the note out again and traced her boldly written name lightly before pocketing it again and walking out of the bathroom.

She would hurt for a long time after this – Oliver was her closest friend and her lover – but even through all of the pain and the suffering, she would get through it…

She would fight.  
She would fight for her friends and family.  
And for her freedom and her own life.  
And for the memory of the most precious person in the world, who had given her the courage to do so.

_-wipes away a tear-  
Well then, wasnt that morbid? Lol.  
I dont really know if i like it or not...  
R&R and tell me?  
Love,  
Ash xox_


End file.
